Abstracto
- Differential drying curves at constant temperature provide a means of assessing the relative diffusivity of water in porous solids such as mineral and lignocellulosic biomass materials. Determination of the critical extent of drying (xc) at which there is a kinetic transition from constant drying rate to decreasing drying rate allows the comparison of water diffusivity between materials. The mean xc value of two porous mineral materials and two ion-exchange resins was 0.68±0.08, and for six residual lignocellulosic biomasses xc was 0.27±0.07, a significant higher than two-fold difference (p < 0.01). The findings are discussed from a microscopic structural viewpoint.